This
is a challenging greeting to give, especially with the understanding that our
brethren from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao are struggling to recover and
rebuild their lives from the devastating blows brought about by floods,
insurgency, earthquakes and a super typhoon. There have been great losses to
life and property, and we, as a Department, have been directly affected. A
number of our students, staff, teachers and administrators, together with their
families, comprise some of the victims and survivors. Even our school
facilities were not spared.

It
is easy to succumb to hopelessness and despair during these times. Yet it is
precisely for these conditions that the message of Christmas becomes more
relevant to us: the message of HOPE, PEACE, JOY, and LOVE.

We
hope in the goodness and generosity of our benefactors who have come quickly to
our aid. Hope that in our better understanding of these events, we are able to
establish better systems and processes to prevent the same mistakes from
repeating themselves. We hope that as a new year approaches, new life should
sprout from the rubble, bathed in the warmth of a rising sun, the light of
God’s mercy and compassion for our troubled people.

With
this renewed hope, I wish you peace. Peace in the faith that all will be well.
Peace in our hearts, in our homes, our communities and the whole country.

I
wish you joy. A joy that is deep and full, grounded in the peace you find within
and around you.

And
with this joy, I wish you love. Not that you only receive love, but that you
give love. And that you give it sincerely and generously. Fueled by the same
hope, peace and joy, may we all express this love through small little acts of
kindness that seek for nothing in return.

Yes,
we are confronted today by the pain and difficulties of tragedy, but we have
the choice to transform the darkness into light, despair into hope, confusion
into peace, sadness into joy, indifference into love. As one family, we reach
out to one another, leaving no one behind. And there’s no better time to do so but
this season of Christmas.

Again,
may you all have a Christmas filled with hope, peace, joy and love. God bless us
all!